Modern History
Posts in The Copybook tagged ‘Modern History’
Victor Hugo berates the general public for crediting everything they do themselves to their supposedly wonderful Government.
L’Homme Qui Rit (1869) is a novel by Victor Hugo, who took as his theme the miseries set in train by acts of arbitrary power; though his story was set in England during the reign of King James II (1685-1688), France in his own day, under Napoleon III, was uppermost in his mind. In this passage, Hugo takes a moment to reflect ruefully on the way that the public idolises the Power of the State.
When a new mother found herself and her kittens on the wrong side of a nasty-looking stream, Twink was there to help.
A pamphlet published in 1815 sought to satisfy the public’s increasing thirst for information about matters of science. The anonymous authors chose as their overall subject the Quadrupeds of the British Isles, and the traditional enmity between Dog and Cat was noted, of course. But there was also this heartwarming little tale.
A loyal dog shows his initiative in recovering his master’s property, though his timing might have been better.
In 1815, at a time when Sir Humphry Davy was popularising chemistry with his famous Royal Institution Lectures, a little handbook was published providing a light-hearted introduction to British zoology. Of course there was a lengthy section devoted to the Dog, and following some remarkable incidences of loyalty, devotion and even acting ability, the authors turned to examples of canine initiative.
It was during the troubled reign of Charles I that the very first bananas seen in Britain went on display.
The runaway success of Alicia Amherst’s History of Gardening in England (1895) surprised nobody more than its modest author. Plenty of horticultural manuals offered practical advice but Amherst and her contemporary Gertrude Jekyll helped put gardening into its wider social context. In this passage, she records the first appearance of a much-loved fruit but also gives us a glimpse of a courageous man.
A year into his reign as Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte had much of Europe under his government but the United Kingdom still eluded him.
Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of the French on December 2nd, 1804. He dreamt of a European empire, and as Jawaharlal Nehru recalls here on land none could resist him. On the seas, however, it was another story. Barely a year into his imperial reign Napoleon was forced to accept two facts: he would never command the seas, and he would never conquer Britain.
Walter Raleigh had many grievances against James VI and I, but for peace with Scotland he was willing to forget them all.
When James VI of Scotland became also James I of England in 1603, Walter Raleigh responded by trying to put James’s cousin Arabella Stewart (1757-1625) on the throne instead. His reasoning had nothing to do with the union of Scotland and England. Now confined to the Tower for an indefinite stay, Raleigh occupied himself in writing a History of the World and declared the Union the best thing James had done.